Support stand

ABSTRACT

A knock-down type support stand especially suited for aquariums or other heavy objects employs double walled support legs that are each formed of inner and outer sleeves of tubing. Upper and a lower horizontal frames act as supports for the objects. Attached to each outside corner of both of the frames is a corresponding one of a plurality of vertical hollow sleeves, each of which is of the same cross sectional dimension as the outer hollow sleeves in the support legs. The inner sleeves for each of the support legs are inserted into the vertical hollow sleeves in the frames, while the outer hollow sleeves for the support legs engage the top ends of the vertical hollow sleeves on the lower frame and the bottom ends of the vertical hollow sleeves on the upper frame. The stand preferably uses tight, friction fit tolerances to increase sturdiness and can be easily assembled without any fasteners.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 60/387,387, filed Jun. 11, 2002, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates, in general, to a support standthat is particularly suited for supporting heavy objects, such asaquariums, for example.

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] Large aquariums and other heavy objects require speciallydesigned support stands for safely supporting the heavy loads. Forexample, a popular sized aquarium holds 55 gallons of water, whichitself weighs in excess of 450 lbs. The support stand must therefore beof heavy-duty construction to provide adequate support. The mostfamiliar type of stand for this application is a pre-assembled standthat is formed of metal tubes or plates that are welded together. Whilesuch a design is typically of sturdy construction, a substantialdrawback is that the stands are costly to ship because of their largeshipping volumes. A second known type of stand, refered to as aknockdown stand, is shipped in a compact, disassembled condition, whichovercomes the shipping cost problem. However, knockdown stands areproblematic for other reasons. In particular, these stands typicallyrequire time consuming and tedious assembly using tools with screws,bolts, nuts or other fasteners. In addition, the fact that the standsare held together by fasteners instead of by welds inherently results ina stand of less sturdy construction, especially if the fasteners are notproperly secured.

[0006] In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a support standthat can be shipped in a disassembled condition, but can be quickly andeasily assembled with a resulting sturdy construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention fulfills the foregoing need and overcomesthe drawbacks of previous support stand designs through provision of aknock-down type stand that requires no fasteners for assembly, yet issturdy and rugged enough to support heavy objects, such as largeaquariums. A key feature of the support stand that enhances itssturdiness is the provision of support legs that are each formed fromdouble tubing in which one or more inner hollow sleeves are positionedwithin an outer hollow sleeve, preferably with a friction fit, but canbe slid relative to the outer sleeve. The support stand also includes anupper and a lower horizontal frame, each of which is also preferablyformed from lengths of tubing. Attached to each outside corner of bothof the frames is a corresponding one of a plurality of vertical hollowsleeves. Each of the sleeves is of the same cross sectional dimension asthe outer hollow sleeves in the support legs to faciliate reception ofthe ends of the inner sleeves, which are longer than the outer sleevesof the support legs for this reason.

[0008] To assemble the support stand, the lower frame is placed on afloor or other horizontal support surface, with the vertical hollowsleeves acting as support legs. Next, the inner sleeves for each of thesupport legs are inserted into the vertical hollow sleeves until theyalso abut the floor or support surface. The support leg outer hollowsleeves are then slid over the inner sleeves until the outer hollowsleeves abut the top ends of the lower frame's vertical hollow sleeves.Finally, the upper frame is mounted on the top ends of the inner hollowsleeves with its vertical hollow sleeves abutting the top ends of thesupport leg outer hollow sleeves. Thus, no fasteners are needed toassemble the support stand, yet the stand is very sturdy by virtue ofthe double walled construction of the support legs in which the innersleeves run the full lengths of the legs and the frame hollow sleeves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled support standconstructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a partial cutaway front elevation taken along the line2-2 of FIG. 1;

[0012]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the support stand ofFIG. 1 showing the elements that make up the support stand; and

[0013]FIG. 4 is a perspective illustration showing the stand in itscompletely disassembled form ready for packaging and shipping.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0014] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a support stand 10 isillustrated that is formed from a number of individual elements that canbe easily disassembled for compact stroage or shipping and thenreassembled without the use of tools or fasteners. Preferably, thevarious elements of the stand 10 are formed from sections of hollowmetal tubing, such as steel, to provide strength for supportingaquariums and other heavy objects. Alternatively, other metals, such asaluminum or plastics and other synthetic materials could be used whereload requirements for the stand are less. The elements of the stand 10include an upper rectangular support frame 12 and a lower rectangularsupport frame 14, each of which is preferably positioned horizontally tofacilitate support of heavy objects, such as aquariums. The frames 12and 14 are each preferably formed of a plurality of sections 16 ofhollow tubing that are welded together. In addition, welded or otherwiseattached outside each of the four corners 18 of the upper frame 12 is acorresponding one of a first plurality of vertical hollow sleeves 20.Similarly, welded or otherwise attached outside each of the four corners22 of the lower frame 14 is a corresponding one of a second plurality ofvertical hollow sleeves 24. The upper support frame 12 also includesoptional nonfunctional ornamentation 26.

[0015] A key feature of the support stand that enhances its sturdinessis the provision of a group of four support legs 28 that are each formedfrom double tubing in which an inner hollow sleeve 30 is positionedwithin an outer hollow sleeve 32, preferably with a friction fit, butcan be slid relative to the outer sleeve 32. For example, in oneexemplary embodiment, the outer sleeves 32 are formed of 18 gauge ⅞″outer diameter square metal tubing while the inner sleeves 30 are formedfrom 16 gauge ¾″ outer diameter metal tubing. The use of a friction fitis preferred to enhance sturdiness of the stand 10. The inner sleeve 30is shown as being formed from first and second sections 34 and 36 toreduce packaging size requirements, but could also be formed from asingle section of hollow tubing. The outer sleeve 32 is selected to havethe same section width as that of the vertical hollow sleeves 20 and 24on the upper and lower frames 12 and 14, respectively. To facilitateinsertion in both of the hollow sleeves 20 and 24 and in the outersleeve 32, the inner sleeve 30 has a length (or sections 34 and 36 havea combined length) that is longer than the length of the outer sleeve32.

[0016] As illustrated, the lower frame 14 is employed as a base in whichthe lower ends 38 of the vertical sleeves 24 rest on a floor or otherhorizontal support surface. As an option, a plurality of casters orglides 40 can be inserted into the lower ends 38 of the sleeves 24 tofacilitate ease of movement of the stand 10. To assemble the stand 10,the inner sleeve sections 34 of the support legs 28 are inserted intothe vertical hollow sleeves 24 of the lower frame 14 until they contactthe floor or other support surface. Next, the outer sleeves 32 of thesupport legs 28 are slid over the inner sleeve sections 34 until theyabut the top ends of the lower frame vertical sleeves 24. The secondgroup of inner sleeve sections 36 are next slid into the outer sleeves32 until they engage the top ends of the first group of inner sleevesections 34. Finally, the upper frame 12 is mounted in the exposed upperends of the inner sleeve sections 36 so that the vertical hollow sleeves20 engage the top ends of the support leg outer sleeves 32. Acorresponding one of a plurality of plastic caps or the like 42 is thenpreferably inserted into each of the open top ends of the verticalsleeves 20 on the upper frame 12.

[0017] The resulting structure is very sturdy by virtue of the doubletube design. Use of square or rectangular tubing for the various sleevesis preferred because it prevents lateral wiggle in either side to sideor front to back, as well as twist, which is an important factor whenlarge tanks of water, e.g., aquariums, are supported by the stand. Thesupport leg outer sleeves 32 are forced to align themselves perfectlywith the same size tube used to make the sleeves 20 and 24 in the upperand lower frames 12 and 14 for both cosmetic and load bearingcapability. The larger the vertical load, the more the inner tube isforced against the inner wall of the outer tube. Because the receivingsleeves 20 and 24 are on the outside corners 18 and 22 of the frames 12and 14, respectively, aquariums or other objects of the same size can besupported both on the upper and lower frames 12 and 14 of the stand 10.The modular design also facilitates stacking of additional legs andframes to allow use as a book shelf or display shelf for example.Further, the design of the stand 10 allows the stand elements to bepacked and shipped in a box only as tall as the sleeves 20 and 24 ofeach of the frames 12 and 14, which interlock inside each other (one upand one down). This packaging arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 4 inwhich the various elements of the stand 10 are shown arranged within abox or other container 44.

[0018] The applications of the support stand are numerous. Althoughspecifically designed to support heavy objects, such as aquariums, thesupport stand can obviously be employed to support any types of objects,such as televisions, appliances, books or any other objects suitable forplacement on shelves.

[0019] Although the invention has been disclosed in terms of a preferredembodiment and variations thereon, it will be understood that numerousmodifications and variations could be made thereto without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. Forexample, while the use of square or rectangular cross-sectional tubingis preferred to reduce twist or wiggle of the stand, tubing having othercross sectional shapes could also be employed. In addition, variousother shapes of support stands, with any number of legs could bedesigned that incorporate the inventive inner/outer sleeve construction.

What is claimed is:
 1. A support stand comprising: a) an upper and alower support frame; b) a first plurality of hollow sleeves attached atspaced locations to said lower frame for supporting said lower frame; c)a second plurality of hollow sleeves attached at spaced locations tosaid upper frame; and, d) a plurality of support legs for supportingsaid upper frame at a position spaced above said lower frame, each ofsaid legs including: 1) an outer sleeve having a bottom end, a top endand a length; and 2) an inner sleeve having a bottom end, a top end anda length that is longer than said length of said outer sleeve; wherein,said inner sleeve has a cross sectional diameter that facilitatesinsertion of said inner sleeve into said outer sleeve, at said bottomend into a corresponding one of said plurality of hollow sleevesattached to said lower frame and at said top end into a correspondingone of said plurality of hollow sleeves attached to said upper frame;and, said outer sleeve has a diameter that facilitates engagement atsaid bottom end with a corresponding one of said plurality of hollowsleeves attached to said lower frame and supporting engagement at saidtop end with a corresponding one of said plurality of hollow sleevesattached to said upper frame.
 2. The support stand of claim 1, whereinsaid inner and outer sleeves of said support legs and said hollowsleeves attached to said upper and lower support frames are dimensionedto facilitate said inner sleeve being friction fit within said outersleeve and said hollow sleeves.
 3. The support stand of claim 1, whereinsaid upper and lower frames are designed to be placed in a horizontalposition for supporting one or more objects, and said hollow sleeves andsaid support legs are designed to be placed in a vertical position forsupporting said upper and lower frames.
 4. The support stand of claim 3,wherein said each of said hollow sleeves in said first an secondpluralities of hollow sleeves is disposed outside a corresponding one ofa plurality of corners in said frames.
 5. The support stand of claim 4,wherein each of said frames is rectangular and there are four each ofsaid hollow sleeves and said support legs.
 6. The support stand of claim1, wherein each of said frames, hollow sleeves and support legs is madefrom a material selected from the group comprising metal, plastic orsynthetic material.
 7. The support stand of claim 1, wherein each ofsaid sleeves has a rectangular shaped cross section.
 8. The supportstand of claim 1, wherein each of said inner sleeves of said legs isformed from multiple sections.
 9. A support stand comprising: a) anupper and a lower horizontal support frame, each of said framesincluding a plurality of outside corners; b) a first plurality of hollowsleeves formed of rectangular cross section tubing attached one each toa corresponding one of said corners of said lower frame for supportingsaid lower frame; c) a second plurality of hollow sleeves formed ofrectangular cross section tubing attached one each to a correspondingone of said corners of said upper frame; and, d) a plurality of supportlegs for supporting said upper frame at a position spaced above saidlower frame, each of said legs including: 1) an outer sleeve formed ofrectangular cross section tubing and having a bottom end, a top end anda length; and 2) an inner sleeve formed of rectangular cross sectiontubing and having a bottom end, a top end and a length that is longerthan said length of said outer sleeve; wherein, said inner sleeve has across sectional diameter that facilitates insertion of said inner sleevewith a friction fit into said outer sleeve, at said bottom end into acorresponding one of said plurality of hollow sleeves attached to saidlower frame and at said top end into a corresponding one of saidplurality of hollow sleeves attached to said upper frame; and, saidouter sleeve has a diameter that facilitates engagement at said bottomend with a corresponding one of said plurality of hollow sleevesattached to said lower frame and supporting engagement at said top endwith a corresponding one of said plurality of hollow sleeves attached tosaid upper frame.
 10. The support stand of claim 9, wherein each of saidframes is rectangular and there are four each of said hollow sleeves andsaid support legs.
 11. The support stand of claim 9, wherein each ofsaid frames, hollow sleeves and support legs is made from a materialselected from the group comprising metal, plastic or synthetic material.12. The support stand of claim 9, wherein each of said inner sleeves ofsaid legs is formed from multiple sections.